The landscape(s) of Pi-Ramesse. Living and dying in the capital of Ramesside Egypt

Pi-Ramesse can without doubt be considered one of the most historically important cities of Ramesside Period Egypt and beyond. This article discusses the relationship between the physical and ideological reality of the Ramesside residence and the cultural and natural landscape which served as the base of the foundation of Pi-Ramesse. It uses a biographical approach highlighting the period of foundation during the late 18th/early 19th Dynasty (c. 1319–1279 BCE), its heydays in the 19th Dynasty (c. 1279–1191 BCE) and its abandonment as capital at the end of the New Kingdom (c. 1077 BCE). After discussing archaeological and literary source materials as well as some effects of the natural landscape, an outlook into perspectives of life and death in an Egyptian capital city will be provided.